Our Approach

Teamwork

Disciplined Methodology

Technology-Enhanced Collaboration

Ideas to Rally Around

At William Blair, we have created a collaborative environment that seeks to ensure the best investment ideas consistently rise to the top. While our team-based approach is anchored by proprietary analytical frameworks, continuous improvement is core to our process, so we also invest in technological innovations that aim to strengthen our ability to pool our talents.

Teamwork

A Sense of Involvement

William Blair gives me a sense of involvement—of being part of a well-functioning team, a warm family. You’re a part of something here, not just doing your work.

Peng Wang
LEAD BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS ANALYST

FACES OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

I love waking up every day and reading the news and thinking about how it might affect our companies. I love analyzing how the world is changing—how it’s getting better, and how technology is enabling that.

Grant Parsons
GLOBAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, GLOBAL EQUITY TEAM

We’re trying to understand the world. We speak to the governments of different countries, and to well-educated independent researchers, and we translate that information into something very measurable through a structured investment process.

Yvette Babb
PORTFOLIO MANAGER, EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TEAM

Small- and mid-cap investing is kind of like finding a great debut novel or stumbling upon a hole- in-the-wall restaurant.

Catriona Duncan, CFA
RESEARCH ANALYST, U.S. GROWTH AND CORE EQUITY TEAM

I’m a value person in pretty much everything I do. I love to find stuff that other people don’t find. If I can find an attractively valued company and I believe the consensus is underestimating its earning potential, that’s a great angle for me. And if that plays out, it’s very rewarding.

Gary Merwitz
PORTFOLIO MANAGER AND RESEARCH ANALYST, U.S. VALUE EQUITY TEAM

Disciplined Methodology

Seeking Solid Outcomes

It is essential that our investment approach and related investment outcomes are as relevant in the future as they’ve been in the past.

Ken McAtamney, Partner
HEAD OF GLOBAL EQUITY TEAM

Team-Specific Investment Frameworks

Our autonomous investment teams have the freedom and flexibility to deliver high-conviction active management while benefiting from a culture that promotes a shared foundation of principles and values.

Enhancing Our Search
for Quality

By applying a materiality framework for ESG analysis, we believe we create a more complete picture of the risks and opportunities facing companies today and in the future.

Technology-Enhanced Collaboration

Rethinking Technology

When I took on my role as head of business and technology solutions, the head of the business asked me to explore what we build versus what we buy. What if we could really partner with a business to do something more customized or flexible than we could buy, perhaps even at less expense?

Kristina Blaschek
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Partnering With Startups

Partnering with startups through an incubator called Plug and Play ultimately lets us test emerging technologies quickly, and we can often achieve our strategic technology goals faster than building something from scratch.

Building a New Platform

It takes a lot of information to manage our emerging markets debt portfolios, so we worked with our business and technology solutions team group to develop a custom dashboard that connects sovereign and corporate credit analysis.

We’re very happy with the quality of the work and the team’s creativity in developing the EMD Summit dashboard. The tech team started by understanding fixed-income investment concepts and the processes we use, then found ways just to make them better. Data is more presentable, tractable, and at our fingertips. And it facilitates cross-team collaboration.

Mariana Villalba, CFA
PORTFOLIO MANAGER AND CREDIT ANALYST, EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TEAM

Our Approach

Ideas to Rally Around

At William Blair, we have created a collaborative environment that seeks to ensure the best investment ideas consistently rise to the top. While our team-based approach is anchored by proprietary analytical frameworks, continuous improvement is core to our process, so we also invest in technological innovations that aim to strengthen our ability to pool our talents.

Teamwork

A Sense of Involvement

William Blair gives me a sense of involvement—of being part of a well-functioning team, a warm family. You’re a part of something here, not just doing your work.

Peng Wang
LEAD BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS ANALYST


PLAY VIDEO

Cross-Functional Working Groups Drive Collaboration

00:17
We often you sectional teams remote innovation. Purposefully diverse across age, culture, role, gender, expertise, these teams seek to incubate new ideas in support of our goals. Hear from Cori Martindale, Partner, Head of Product Management

FACES OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

(Tap photo to reveal quote.)

I love waking up every day and reading the news and thinking about how it might affect our companies. I love analyzing how the world is changing—how it’s getting better, and how technology is enabling that.

Grant Parsons
GLOBAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, GLOBAL EQUITY TEAM

We’re trying to understand the world. We speak to the governments of different countries, and to well-educated independent researchers, and we translate that information into something very measurable through a structured investment process.

Yvette Babb
PORTFOLIO MANAGER, EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TEAM

Small- and mid-cap investing is kind of like finding a great debut novel or stumbling upon a hole- in-the-wall restaurant.

Catriona Duncan, CFA
RESEARCH ANALYST, U.S. GROWTH AND CORE EQUITY TEAM

I’m a value person in pretty much everything I do. I love to find stuff that other people don’t find. If I can find an attractively valued company and I believe the consensus is underestimating its earning potential, that’s a great angle for me. And if that plays out, it’s very rewarding.

Gary Merwitz
PORTFOLIO MANAGER AND RESEARCH ANALYST, U.S. VALUE EQUITY TEAM

Disciplined Methodology

Seeking Solid Outcomes

It is essential that our investment approach and related investment outcomes are as relevant in the future as they’ve been in the past.

Ken McAtamney, Partner
HEAD OF GLOBAL EQUITY TEAM

Team-Specific Investment Frameworks

Our autonomous investment teams have the freedom and flexibility to deliver high-conviction active management while benefiting from a culture that promotes a shared foundation of principles and values.

Enhancing Our Search
for Quality

By applying a materiality framework for ESG analysis, we believe we create a more complete picture of the risks and opportunities facing companies today and in the future.

Uncompromising Integrity

00:17
We employ rigorous capacity management across all strategies, with certain strategies closed to new investment to safeguard long-term return potential for existing clients. Hear from Cori Martindale, Partner, Head of Product Management.

Rethinking Technology

When I took on my role as head of business and technology solutions, the head of the business asked me to explore what we build versus what we buy. What if we could really partner with a business to do something more customized or flexible than we could buy, perhaps even at less expense?

Kristina Blaschek
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Partnering With Startups

Partnering with startups through an incubator called Plug and Play ultimately lets us test emerging technologies quickly, and we can often achieve our strategic technology goals faster than building something from scratch.


PLAY VIDEO

Gaining Perspective to Become Better Investors

00:58
William Blair’s proprietary summit research platform helps our portfolio managers and analysts to efficiently collaborate to identify high-conviction investment ideas in the pursuit of better client outcomes.

Building a New Platform

It takes a lot of information to manage our emerging markets debt portfolios, so we worked with our business and technology solutions team group to develop a custom dashboard that connects sovereign and corporate credit analysis.

We’re very happy with the quality of the work and the team’s creativity in developing the EMD Summit dashboard. The tech team started by understanding fixed-income investment concepts and the processes we use, then found ways just to make them better. Data is more presentable, tractable, and at our fingertips. And it facilitates cross-team collaboration.

Mariana Villalba, CFA

PORTFOLIO MANAGER AND CREDIT ANALYST, EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TEAM

Our People

Our Purpose

Create an
Enduring Partnership

Our active ownership culture creates long-term client relationships by aligning with your interests and helping you achieve successful investment outcomes. Contact us to learn how we can partner with you.

CONTACT:

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